Reducing the risk of a nightmare event

You've sent the invitations, hired the marquee, got in extra chairs, and even sourced some of those fancy seat covers with bows on them.

But on the day, no one comes. The food goes to waste. The balloons remain unblown.

It's a terrible scenario for any birthday or wedding, but what if that event was the major fundraiser for your community group?

It is something the Bundaberg Regional Council worries about, with so many volunteer groups in the district relying on events to attract new blood and money.

Community and Arts spokeswoman Councillor Judy Peters says a key way for small groups to get more publicity is through social media, but many aren't clear on how to use it.

"A number of people have websites, a number of people actually go to a website to find out what's happening in the region and a lot of visitors especially want to know what's happening," she said.

"So if you're looking at just traditional advertising in the newspaper or print media or anything sometimes you actually miss the market.

"The social media is the way to go because every age group now is clicking on to have a look at what's happening."

The council is hosting a series of workshops to help groups get their techie skills up to speed.

"It really is about these community groups knowing how to engage and promote to achieve successful outcomes for their groups and that might mean a whole lot more people going to attend your event or coming to your group or assisting in some way," Councillor Peters said.

"So [it's about] how best to get your group and your ideas out there through social media."

But what do you do once you've got people coming to your big day? Councillor Peters says groups are often surprised by the amount of risk they take on with an event, which is why the council is also holding workshops on reducing risk.

"Sometimes it is all about looking at those forms and going 'oh no it's all too hard', well look it's not all too hard," she said.

"Have a look at what you're doing, have a look at your event and in fact reducing the risks of anything going wrong."

The workshops will be held in Gin Gin, Childers and Bundaberg, and Councillor Peters says they could make the difference between an event that's a flop, or a roaring success.

"Sometimes people think putting on an event is an easy thing, you just ring up and hire some marquees and that's it, unaware that it really is about managing your access, your walkways, where you put your tie ropes down, a whole lot of things that you need to be aware of from workplace health and safety point of view so that when you have all the people coming to see your event you know that you've taken every precaution," she said.

For more information about the workshops, contact the Bundaberg Regional Council on 1300 883 699.

It's a terrible scenario if no one comes to a birthday or wedding, but what if that event was the major fundraiser for your community group? The food goes to waste and the balloons remain unblown.
(D. Sharon Pruitt - http://flic.kr/p/6FaiMe)